Re-opening of Submissions on Cemetery By-Law Welcomed

11 June 2014

Multicultural New Zealand welcomes the brief re-opening of submissions by the Auckland Council on their proposed by-law on cemeteries and crematoria.

The by-law has provoked concern from funeral directors and religious and cultural groups because of restrictions on burial and cremation rites and a lack of consultation with affected communities and the Council’s own ethnic and Pacific advisory boards.

Multicultural New Zealand appealed to Auckland Mayor Len Brown last week to re-open the negotiations and he has replied that the Council will now accept late submissions until tomorrow 12 June at 5.00 pm.

This is not an ideal outcome, as it is an incredibly short time frame, but we welcome the fact that submissions have been re-opened at all and will do our best to encourage communities to make their views known. At least there has been some public expression of concern since last week and we will include that in our submission.

Information on the process can be found at the following link:

http://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/EN/licencesregulations/Bylaws/Pages/cemeteriesandcrematoriabylaw.aspx

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